Fallout
by Perfectly-Imperfect1996
Summary: Maia Farrin was a thief the Ark didn't think they'd ever catch, until her boyfriend turned her in. When Maia has the chance to go to Earth, she thinks she has the chance to start over. Instead, she finds the ghost of the past she hoped to leave behind. Bellamy/OC
1. Chapter 1

Earth, we were on Earth. I never thought I'd ever be able to say that. I was the first person from the second level of the drop ship to get out of my seat. I ran to the hatch and tossed it open. "How's it going down there?" Another girl called out, running up behind me. "Let's go!" She urged. I grinned at her and descended the ladder.

The first level had already started to move around and most of them where standing in front of the door already. A blonde stood at the front of the group. "We can't just open the door, we don't know what's out there," she argued.

"Well we can't just stay in here!" Someone yelled back.

"Open the door!" Another person added.

As the door was lowered, a girl pushed her way to the front. When she turned towards the blonde I recognized her. "Octavia, you're ok," I mumbled. I started to walk through the crowd towards her when I saw him. I stopped in my tracks.

"You mind? I haven't seen my sister in over a year," Bellamy said. He walked right past me without even looking at me. I backed into the crowd quickly, before he noticed me.

"That's the girl they found in the floor!" Someone said. I wanted to run and give Octavia a hug; I hadn't seen her in a year either.

"Let's give them something else to remember you by," Bellamy told her. "Being the first person to set foot on Earth in a hundred years."

Octavia smiled and turned towards the open door. After a moment she jumped to the ground. "We're back, bitches!"

The next few minutes were chaos as the 100 flooded out of the drop ship. I all but forgot about the Blakes as I was pushed forward with the crowd and out into the forest. Everyone was yelling and cheering and hugging each other. I felt the urge to run, so I did.

In hindsight it probably wasn't the best idea but it felt amazing to be so free. I'd always loved running on the track and treadmills on the Ark, but that was nothing to running in the wide-open spaces of Earth.

When I got tired, I stopped. I sat down on a bed of moss and leaned back against a tree. I looked around and took in the exotic pink and purple flowers that dotted the landscape and sighed. I was on Earth. I was home.

OoOoO

For the next few weeks I avoided camp, the only reason I snuck in was to steal food or blankets or whatever else I needed. I never strayed too far. There were grounders in the area, I'd seen them near camp and nearly decided to move back in. Fortunately I didn't, camp was turning into a dictatorship and Bellamy Blake was running the show.

I learned important information from a couple of girls who liked to gossip, they told me about the guy who got speared by a grounder and that Bellamy was forcing everyone to take off their wristbands. I kept mine on until one day it shocked me and popped right off. I never let the girls see me slip back out of camp because I didn't want anyone looking for me. I was doing all right by myself.

At least I was until the storm hit. Octavia had gone missing and I was looking for her, but the farther I got into the woods and the more it rained, the less I knew where I was. Finally I heard voices up ahead. I walked through the trees quietly, trying to make as little noise as possible.

When I reached the group, I realized it was Bellamy and a few of his goons. At least I could follow them back to camp and the safety of the drop ship. When I got closer I noticed they weren't alone. Two of the guys had ahold of a grounder. He looked tough and I wondered how'd they managed to take him down.

One of the guys kicked the grounder in the ribs. "This is going to be fun." As we got closer to camp I was forced to step out of the trees. I cringed for the grounder as he was pushed around.

For the first time since reaching Earth I was within a few feet of Bellamy. Looking at him it was hard to reconcile the Bellamy I'd known before with this one.

As we walked into the drop ship I finally got the courage to speak, though I was sure Bellamy had already realized I was there. "Bellamy, stop," I called. One of the guys carrying the grounder glanced at me but Bellamy didn't turn around. "This isn't you."

He climbed up the ladder and pushed up the hatch. He and his guys lifted the grounder to the second level and I followed them. "Damn it, Bell, look at me."

"Who is she?" One of the guys asked.

"Maia Farrin," I told him.

Bellamy turned around and looked at the others, but avoided me all together. "You can see her."

"Yeah, she's been tailing us for the past ten minutes."

I stared at him. "Did you think I was a ghost or something? Well, surprise. I'm alive. No thanks to you."

"I thought you were dead."

"They just threw me in jail. If you had stuck around after you turned me in you would have known that. But you didn't stick around. You ran, like a coward. Didn't want to see me hate you, I suppose."

"I'm sorry."

"It's too late, Bell."

"We've been on the ground for two weeks, why are you just now coming after me?"

"You think I'm here to kill you? I'd like to think I'm a little cleverer than that. I don't want to kill you. I may hold a grudge, but I'm not a murderer. Just like you aren't a torturer."

"So you came to save me from crossing a line?"

The hatch was thrown open again and Octavia climbed up the ladder. She saw the grounder where the others had tied him up. "He saved my life, Bellamy! You can't do this!" She whirled on us and her next sentence died on her lips. "Maia?"

"The one and only."

"You're supposed to be dead."

"But I'm not."

"The two of you need to leave," Bellamy said. "I'm trying to save a kid's life."

When neither of us made a move to leave, Bellamy nodded for a couple of the guys to drag us to the hatch and force us down. "I hate him."

"And he loves you," I murmured. "How've you been, Octavia?"

"I've been better. But where've you been? Why haven't I seen you?"

"I wasn't exactly keen on running into your brother after what he did to me. Not to mention he's gotten a little power crazy since the landing. I figured it was better to lay low."

"Until today."

"I heard you'd gone missing and I was out looking for you. I ended up getting caught in the storm and I ran into Bellamy and those other guys and followed them back here. If it hadn't been for that I'd probably still be going it on my own."

"People mentioned things going missing, that was you wasn't it? You were always a great thief."

"The best." I smiled. "It's good to see you again, Octavia."

"How are you still alive?"

I shrugged. "Just lucky I guess." I pulled up my shirt to reveal the scar across my abdomen. "Got a nifty scar though."

"I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. Bell thought he was going to save you, but clearly it was just bad news for both of us."

"Octavia!" A girl called from the other room.

"Go. I'll be around."

OoOoO

The storm finally passed and I was about to head out. "Maia, wait," Bellamy called. I stopped but didn't turn around. "Can we talk?"

I turned around slowly. "Sure, let's have a nice little chat."

"You're mad."

"You turned me in! I have every right to be angry with you!"

"I hated myself for it. I started seeing you everywhere, like my conscious was catching up to me."

"I figured that when you asked your guys if they could see me. You've really gone off the deep end, haven't you?"

"Seeing your girlfriend die right in front of you has that effect on people."

"Except you didn't see me die, you turned around and walked away."

"I shouldn't have done it, I know that."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better? You feel bad about it, so that should make it all ok? I loved you, Bellamy! I would have done anything for you!"

"Anything, except saving my sister."

"I would have gotten her out of there if you asked me too! I was queen of getting into places I wasn't supposed to be. I could have stolen someone's key card, or climbed in through the vents, I could have brought her back to you. But you never asked."

"They said if I brought you to them they'd let her go. They told me they already knew who you were, but if I brought you in first they'd make a trade. I didn't think I had a choice."

"If you'd just told me that, I would have told you they were lying! They didn't know who I was, and they were never going to let Octavia go." I shook my head. "You know, I got lucky. My eighteenth birthday was the day they sent us down here. I should have been floated but I got a second chance. I got down here expecting a fresh start, but there you were standing in between Earth and me. I'm not the ghost, you are, and frankly I wish you were still dead."

OoOoO

I sat in the woods, in my favorite spot with the odd-looking flowers and soft, mossy ground. It had been my haven away from the others since that first day. A branch snapped and I sighed. "I told you I wasn't a murder, but I'm seriously beginning to reconsider that."

"Whoa, I'm sorry I followed you," a guy said. I looked over my shoulder; it wasn't Bellamy or any of his guys. He held his hands up in surrender.

"Sorry, thought you were someone else."

"Bellamy? I heard you yelling at him. Actually, everyone did. Octavia asked me to come looking for you."

"Oh, well, you can tell her I'm fine."

"Do you mind if I sit down for a second?" He asked. I shrugged and he sat down on the moss next to me. "I'm Jasper."

"You're the guy who got speared by the grounder, right?" He nodded. "I'm Maia."

"I know, you're Robin Hood."

I laughed. "What?"

"You stole medical supplies to give to people who needed more than their allotment, right?"

"And food, and tech, and a lot of other stuff, yeah."

"See, Robin Hood."

"Please don't call me that."

"You helped my mom when she got an infection. There was nothing the med staff could do; she'd used up her ration. They were just going to leave her to die, but then the antibiotics she needed showed up in our apartment one morning. She ended up being ok."

"Yeah, um, glad to help. That's what I do."

"Don't be so modest, you helped a lot of people on the ark."

"Well, there was never anyone to help me. I just wanted to make sure other people didn't lose their families too."

"I guess you've known Octavia and Bellamy for a while, then."

"Yeah, I lived next door. When I was eight I was climbing through the air ducts, it was kind of a hobby, and I saw Octavia in the Blake's apartment. Not too long after that my mom got sick and died, my dad was floated for trying to steal meds for her. The Blakes were nice to me. I tried to help them out when I could, they needed extra rations, you know. I started dating Bellamy when I was fifteen, and well, I guess you and everyone else heard how that ended."

"Bellamy's a dick."

I laughed. "That's the understatement of the year."

"Want to come back to camp? I'll introduce you to everyone."

"I'd prefer to be alone," I told him. He nodded but didn't turn to go. "Octavia told you to bring me back, didn't she?" He nodded again. "Ok, fine, but she's not getting me to stay."

OoOoO

"Listen, you cannot keep me in here, I'll go crazy," I told Octavia.

"And if you stay out there you'll die."

"It's not like I'm completely isolated, I can come back whenever I want," I told her.

"Except whenever you want is never."

"I have to come back to camp for supplies," I protested.

"We're closing camp down," Bellamy said. I hadn't even realized he was listening to me and Octavia argue. "No one goes out without a damn good reason. End of argument."

I glared at him. Octavia pulled me away before I could decide if I wanted to yell at him or hit him. "Now, I can finally introduce you to everyone."

"I know who all your friends are, I haven't been living under a rock."

"I get that you don't like people but I am going to force you to play nice. Come on, do it for me."

I sighed. "Fine. Let's get this over with." She pushed open the flap of a tent and nodded for me to go inside. One guy was lying on a cot, must have been the kid poisoned by the grounders, he looked all right now, a girl sat next to him. A blonde who'd argued about opening the door was talking to Jasper and some other guy.

"Good, you're all here. That makes this easy, before Maia runs off again," Octavia said as she came in behind me. They all looked over at us. Octavia ran though a quick introduction, "You already met Jasper, that's his friend Monty. She's Clarke, the doctor's daughter, and that's Finn and Raven. Raven was the girl who came down on her own, she fixed the radio."

"I'm Maia," I said uncomfortably. I looked at Octavia. "Can I go now?"

Monty hit Jasper. "That's Robin Hood."

"Dude, I know, we're friends," Jasper told him.

"I didn't expect her to be so hot." To me he said, "I can't believe the Ark ever caught you."

"That makes two of us."

"What do you mean Robin Hood?" Clarke asked. I cringed at the nickname again.

"She's the girl that stole supplies and gave them to people who needed them," Jasper explained. "Steal from the rich, give to the poor, ya know?"

"You were a thief."

"Not just any thief, the best thief," Monty added.

"Did you ever stop to consider the consequences for what you were doing? Do you have any idea how many people got in trouble for what you did?" She asked.

"Do you have any idea how many people are still alive because of me?" I countered. Normally I would avoid talking about it, but I felt the need to defend myself.

"You helped Finn get extra rations for me when my mom traded mine," Raven said. "Thanks."

Clarke looked between Raven and me before shaking her head and ducking out of the tent. "What's her problem?" Octavia asked. "Anyway, now you've met everyone worth meeting. You can leave if you want."

"I um…"

"We could use some help cleaning up after the storm," Raven said. "If you want to help."

"Yeah, I mean, where else am I going to go?"

She smiled. "Alright, well, let's put you to work."

Octavia laughed as Raven pulled me out of the tent. "Have fun!"


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as Clarke stepped out of the tent where she'd been talking to the Chancellor, I ambushed her. "I couldn't help but overhear the council telling you about a supply bunker."

"You mean you were eavesdropping?"

"Accidentally." She raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, fine, I may have been eavesdropping. But, come on, you need someone to go with you and I have cabin fever."

"I do need help, but not from you."

"I'm good at stuff like this! You can disapprove of my lifestyle, but you have to admit I can be useful."

"Fine, you can come. Just give me a minute. Get us some water or something." She walked toward the drop ship. I ducked into her tent and grabbed her canteen and went to fill it up. When I came out of the water tent, Clarke was walking towards me with Bellamy at her side.

"No way."

"He's coming with us," Clarke told me. "If you want to go, you have to put up with him. I don't need you." I groaned.

"Don't look so excited, Maia, you might get a reputation for being friendly."

I rolled my eyes. "Can we just get out of here?" I handed her the canteen.

"Yeah, let's go." We headed outside of the wall and into the woods. As soon as the sounds of the rest of the hundred had faded away I felt so much better. I walked a few paces behind Bellamy and Clarke so I didn't have to talk to them.

We'd been walking for probably an hour or so when Bellamy pulled some rations out of his bag. "Hungry?"

"I'm fine," I mumbled. Clarke rolled her eyes and took the packet from him and threw it to me.

Clarke glanced at the massive backpack Bellamy had brought. "You realize this is just a day trip, right?"

"A lot can happen in a day. It's always best to be prepared."

We came to a clearing where the ruins of buildings were spread in front of us. "Well, it's supposed to be around here somewhere."

"You really think it hasn't been touched since the was?" Bellamy asked.

Clarke shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

"If we split up we can cover more ground," I suggested. Bellamy and I turned in opposite directions and Clarke went straight down the ledge. I weaved around the ruins looking for any sort of door that might lead to an underground bunker. The longer I looked, the more distracted I got. From here I could barely see Clarke. If I turned away from her, I could pretend like I was alone. I popped open the packet Clarke had given me and snacked as I walked.

There was a rustling in the bushes behind me and I jumped. When I turned around no one was there. I figured it was probably just an animal, but you could never be too careful. I headed back towards Clarke. "Find anything?" She called, as I got closer.

"No, what about you?" I asked. She shook her head and started to walk towards me. When she stepped down there was a hollow thump, we both stopped and she stamped her foot down again.

"Help me clear up these weeds." We knelt down and started pulling at the dead weeds that had buried the door. "Bellamy!" Clarke called up the hill. He looked down. "We found it."

Bellamy hopped down next to us as I pulled up the last of the weeds. Clarke pushed down on the door handle but it didn't budge. "Watch your feet," Bellamy warned. We both stepped out of the way and he hit the handle a few times with his axe till it loosened up and Clarke could open it.

The inside of the bunker was dark and musty smelling and as we descended the stairs we ran into spider web after spider web. "This is disgusting," I mumbled.

"So much for living down here," Clarke said. She handed each of us a flashlight from her bag and we started to search the tunnels. I popped open a few containers, some were empty and the ones that weren't, were wet.

"Any food down here is either ruined or gone," I told her. She opened another crate; this one was full of blankets. "Those'll be useful if we can find some more of them."

"Damn it," Bellamy said. "We need food and tents and-" He kicked over a bucked full of water which spilled across the floor. He stopped and looked down.

"What?" Clarke said, walking towards him.

"Guns."

OoOoO

Bellamy set up a target and started testing the guns. He handed one to Clarke who took it reluctantly. "You may not like it but you need to learn to defend yourself," Bellamy told her. He turned towards me. "You too."

I took a step back. "I'm not touching one of those."

"There are nonlethal places to shoot someone," he said.

"And there are a lot of lethal ones too," I said. "Have fun, I'm going to keep looking. These tunnels go on forever." Before I even got down the hallway I could hear the shots. I ran, wanting to put as much distance between them and me as I could.

I hadn't realized I'd closed my eyes until I ran into something. When I opened them, I screamed. Standing in front of me was a man. He was wearing a guard's uniform and had a buzz cut, and I recognized him immediately. I began to retreat. He was facing the wall and slowly he turned towards me, half his face was missing exposing his jaw. I screamed again and backed up quicker until I ran into the wall.

"You did this," he said. His mouth moved oddly due to the hole in his cheek but his voice was strong and clear. I shook my head fiercely. "You killed me."

"I didn't want to," I whimpered.

"You should have died, they sliced you open but that bitch put you back together again."

"I panicked! It was self defense!" I screamed at him. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"No one made you grab my gun. No one made you pull the trigger. You can blame Bellamy for what you did, but that doesn't change the fact that you're a killer."

"I know! I know what I did! Just let me go, please!"

"You'll pay for what you've done." He lunged at me and I sprinted down the hall towards the door up to the clearing. I could hear the guard behind me and I clambered up the stairs into the fresh air.

When I turned around he was still there, but in the crisp air I realized how crazy I was behaving. "This isn't real, you aren't real!"

"It doesn't matter if I'm real, I'll haunt you forever. You killed me." I pressed my eyes together and when I opened them he was gone. I heard shouting, this time I had a feeling I wasn't imagining things. I ran towards the sound and found Bellamy on his knees.

"Bellamy?"

He turned towards me but he wasn't looking at me, he was looking behind me. I turned but there was no one there. "Kill me!" He yelled.

"Bellamy, whatever you're seeing it isn't real!" I yelled at him.

"I've hurt so many people," he said. "I've suffered enough. Kill me!"

"Well since you asked so nicely," someone said. A guy I'd seen back at camp stepped out of the trees. He lunged at Bellamy and I panicked. I ran towards him and threw my entire body weight at him. He stumbled backwards and dropped his gun, but he shoved me to the ground and I landed hard on my shoulder.

A sharp pain spread through my back and I tried to roll over. Bellamy and the kid were fighting and I searched for something to help. My eyes landed on the gun and I reached for it, stretching out my arm hurt but I wrapped my fingers around the handle and pulled it towards me. My hands were shaking as I aimed the gun but I pulled the trigger as soon as I got a clear shot, only nothing happened.

I dropped the gun just as Clarke ran up and fired her own gun. She missed but it was enough of a distraction for Bellamy to grab a fallen bullet and drive it into his attacker's neck. Bellamy shoved the guy off of him and sat up. He walked towards the tree where Clarke was already sitting. Unwilling to push myself to my feet, I just turned my body to face them. We were all breathing heavily and for a minute no one spoke.

"You're ok," Clarke told Bellamy.

"No, I'm not. My mother raised me to be better than this, to be good. All I do is hurt people." He looked at me and I held his gaze. "I can't apologize to anyone else. They're all dead. I'm so sorry."

"I killed a man, Bell. I'm a killer because of you."

"It wasn't your fault, blame me."

"I do," I told him. "But, I was going to kill that kid, I pulled the trigger, for you."

"None of us would have survived here without you," Clarke told him. "We need you, you can't just run."

I looked between Bellamy and Clarke. "You were going to run?" He nodded. I didn't have the energy to move very far, so I shoved his leg angrily. "You can't do that! You can't just leave!"

"Why? Octavia hates me, you hate me, what's the point?"

"You want forgiveness? Then stick around and earn it!"

"I don't deserve it."

"Stop pitying yourself. You screwed up. That doesn't mean you aren't forgivable. Do you think I would have tried to save your life if I thought you were beyond redemption?" I asked. After a beat I added, "And I don't hate you. I want to, but I don't."

"It's our responsibility to keep everyone alive, you can't just abandon them," Clarke said. "That's a good first step towards redemption, right?" Clarke looked at me, urging me to agree, and I nodded. "You have to come back."

"Jaha will kill me when he gets here," he said. I didn't know what he'd done but I was sure I'd rather not find out.

"We'll figure it out," Clarke told him.

"Can we figure it out later?"

"Whenever you're ready," she said.

OoOoO

After we rested we went back down to the bunker to get the rest of the guns. Clarke found bags big enough for us to fill up and we each carried a duffle back to camp. Back at camp everyone looked a little out of it. Whatever had caused the three of us to hallucinate, had clearly affected them too.

"The grounder's gone!" Someone yelled.

"Let them come," Bellamy said. "We've been afraid of them for too long." We all opened the bags and showed everyone the guns.

"These are for protection, they aren't toys," Clarke said. "And when the drop ships come we need to be prepared to turn them in to the guard."

"Tomorrow we start training," Bellamy said. "Everyone needs to be able to defend themselves." He looked at me. "Everyone." A chill ran down my spine at the thought of firing another gun but I knew he was right. I had to put aside everything that had happened on the Ark if I was going to survive. Down here on Earth it was kill or be killed.

OoOoO

I found Octavia later, alone, wrapped in a blanket. "Hey."

She turned around and patted the ground next to her. She opened her blanket and I sat down next to her and pulled it around my shoulders. "Have fun out there?" She asked.

"Something like that. Your brother is in there talking to Jaha."

"You think the chancellor will pardon Bell for shooting him?" She asked.

"Bellamy shot the chancellor?" I asked, surprised.

"To come down here with me." She rolled her eyes.

"He loves you, that's why he does it all. As stupid as it may seem." She just grunted. "That grounder, you set him free, didn't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said with a tiny smile.

"Um hmm. How'd you do it?"

"Oh come on, you'd never reveal your secrets."

I laughed. "I taught you well." She hugged me and I rubber her shoulder. "You ok?"

"Maybe. I don't know yet. What about you?"

"Maybe."

She laid her head on my shoulder. "I'm glad you're here, Maia."

"I am too."


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, Maia!" Monty yelled from outside my tent.

"MAIA!" Jasper screamed. I jumped and whirled around. He peeked his head in and grinned.

"What the hell, Jasper?"

"We have a job for you," he told me.

I made a face. "Don't worry, you'll like this one," Monty assured me.

"Probably," Jasper added.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"Come with us. Don't say anything about it." They escorted me out of my tent and to their tent across camp.

"Ok?" I asked.

"So, you know that today is Unity Day..." I nodded. Monty produced a huge jug. "We want you to be the first to test our moonshine."

"This is our first batch on Earth," Jasper mumbled.

"Hit me." Monty grinned before pouring some into his water bottle. He presented it to me dramatically. I took a small sip and scrunched my nose up. "Well…it isn't terrible."

"It's better if you drink it fast," Monty admitted. I tipped the bottle up and chugged what was left.

I shrugged. "You're right."

"More?"

"Hell yes."

OoOoO

I popped my head into Raven's tent. "How's it going?" I asked. She turned around and motioned for me to come in. She had a table full of bullets in front of her.

She shrugged. "It's going alright."

"Did Bellamy ask you to help?"

"No, I volunteered. I figured I needed something to keep myself busy. How long are you going to let him think you hate him?"

"Who I said I didn't still hate him?"

"Your face right now."

I shrugged. "How much time is adequate for this kind of thing? A week or two?"

"You won't make it. I'd bet on that."

"I'd take that bet, but I know myself too well."

She sighed. "Is it because we haven't shaken the feeling that we're going to die?"

"Huh?"

"Come on, you've seen it. It's open season on relationships."

"I'm not sure I would consider a lot of what's been going on relationships."

She shrugged. "You know what I mean."

"I missed quite a bit while I was off doing my own thing. Finn's your boyfriend, right?"

"I suppose so."

"You suppose? That doesn't sound very confident."

"He was before he came here, at least."

"But then Clarke happened?" I guessed. "I saw them together once, outside of camp."

She nodded. "I get it, he didn't know I was coming. But he didn't even tell her about me."

"Well that was…uncool."

"To put it lightly." She looked back at her table. "I should get back to checking these."

"Need any help?"

"Nah, have fun at the celebration."

OoOoO

Within a few hours the moonshine had been distributed among the other kids and the Unity Day celebration was in full swing. I saw Bellamy on the ramp to the drop ship and sauntered over to him. "Oh no! Did I miss the pageant?" I asked.

He snorted. "You always hated that stupid pageant, even when you were in it."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, that pageant was _so_ amazing. I mean the story of Unity Day is just incredibly touching, you know?" I ranted dramatically. He stared at me and I burst into laughter. "You know me too well. That story is the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard, and that's saying something considering you've been known to spout some serious bullshit."

I slung my arm around his waist and he put his arm around my shoulders. "You seen my sister?"

"Nope," I said popping the 'p'. Truthfully, I knew all about Octavia's little trips beyond the wall to visit the grounder Bellamy had tortured.

"How much have you had to drink?"

"I dunno, quite a bit. It's done its job though."

"Has it?"

"Well, I don't hate you right now." I laughed but he didn't. I grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the party. "Come on, loosen up!"

"Can't."

I groaned. "You are absolutely no fun."

"You should go, mingle with your people. I hear you're quite the celebrity."

"Yeah, but a celebrity has to know who her true friends are."

"And who would those be?" He asked, humoring me.

"Well, Octavia, for sure. Maybe Raven. Jasper and Monty too. Clarke, when she isn't being a bitch. And you."

"We're friends?" He said skeptically.

"Oh, please, Bellamy. You didn't think I actually hated you still, did you? I mean I _did_. But I guess I forgave you when you were drugged up and being all angsty." I frowned. "I'm going to regret telling you that tomorrow. I meant to drag this out a little longer."

"Can we go somewhere to talk?"

"Your tent is right there." I pulled him towards it. I pushed backwards through the flaps and came to an abrupt halt, Bellamy crashed into me. We were chest to chest and I tilted my head up so we were looking at each other. "You sure you just want to talk?"

"Um." I leaned towards him and pressed my lips to his. I leaned back and looked at him. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something. Instead he shook his head and put both his hands on my face and pulled my face back to his. As we kissed I ran my fingers through his hair and tangled them in his hair.

His hands left my face and trailed down my sides to the hem of my top. I let go of him long enough for him to pull my shirt over my head and toss it on the ground, and then do the same with his.

I giggled. "Well it's been a while since we've done this." We both set down on the pile of blankets that served as his bed. I pushed him back so he was leaning on his elbows and straddled him. I kissed him and ran my hands down his chest and down to his belt. Before I could get very far I heard someone step into the tent.

"There you are, I thought you were being the responsible one tonight?" Clark said sounding very annoyed. I was beginning to realize that was the way she always sounded. I looked over her shoulder at her. When she registered who I was, her eyes widened a tiny bit. "Good, I can probably use both of you."

"What's going on?" Bellamy asked. He lightly nudged me and I reluctantly rolled off of him. I reached for my shirt and pulled it back over my head.

"Finn's arranged a meeting with the grounders," she told him.

"He did what?" I asked. "How?"

She shrugged. "I didn't ask a lot of questions." To Bellamy she said, "He wants me to go alone but I don't trust them."

"Smart," he said curtly.

She shook her head. "I need you to follow us, in case something goes wrong. Bring guns."

He nodded. "Yeah, ok. Give me a minute."

She nodded. "I'll leave you a trail." She left without saying anything else.

"Stay here," Bellamy told me.

"No way."

"Even if you weren't drunk, you can't shoot and I'm not letting you go in there unarmed."

"Suddenly I don't feel so intoxicated. Clark has a sobering affect on people, unfortunately."

"Fine, if you're coming, let's go." I followed him to Raven's tent, where she was still diligently working on the bullets, now with Jasper by her side. They both turned when we entered. Raven glanced between Bellamy and me and smirked.

Bellamy reached for a box of bullets and she swatted his hand away. "If you need bullets, I wouldn't take those. I haven't checked them yet. Here," she handed him a few clips. "These work. What do you need them for, anyway?"

"Your boyfriend either just made a very good decision or a very stupid one," I told her.

"Then I'm coming with you."

"Jasper, you're coming with us. You handled yourself well against the grounder," Bellamy told him.

Raven handed me more bullets. "Told you, you wouldn't last a week."

"Shut up, I was drunk," I mumbled.

"Uh huh. You sure did sober up fast for someone who was drunk enough to make out with their ex."

"If you two are done chitchatting, we can head out," Bellamy said. We both nodded and turned around. Bellamy started out the tent.

"Wait, what about Clarke?" Jasper asked.

"She's already with Finn," I told him. He nodded and followed Bellamy.

"Surprise, surprise," Raven said bitterly.

I gave her an apologetic look, before following Jasper. "We should hurry."

OoOoO

Just after daybreak we reached the end of Clarke's trail. We were near a bridge, which, other than being covered in plant life, looked fully intact. We headed towards the bank of the river to get a better view of the bridge.

I was the first person down the slope. Clarke and Finn both stood on the bridge, as did Octavia. I couldn't say I was surprised to see her there, but I knew Bellamy would be upset. "Bell, I should probably tell you something. Octavia's been seeing someone."

"Is now really the time, Maia?"

"Yes, it is," I insisted.

"Ok, fine, who is he?"

"Um," Raven interrupted. "Just a guess, but I'm going with the grounder that she's kissing right now." I turned and sure enough, Octavia and the grounder were right there in plain sight.

"I guess we know how he escaped now," Jasper mumbled.

"Ok, so, she's been sneaking out of camp to see him since then," I summed up. Quickly I added, "Don't freak out."

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that is, Maia? How could you let her do that?" Bellamy asked angrily.

"Octavia isn't the same little girl you used to hide in the floor, and she's never been my responsibility. I couldn't stop her even if I wanted to."

"And you didn't think to tell me."

"No, because I knew this is how you'd react." I shook my head. "Your sister is alive and relatively happy, given the circumstances. That's what matters here."

"Guys, they're here," Raven said. At the other end of the bridge three grounders rode up on horses. After a few moments one of the grounders, a woman, dismounted and met Clarke in the middle of the bridge.

"Do you think it will work?" I asked, mostly to myself.

"Not a chance," Bellamy mumbled.

"Maybe," Raven said hopefully.

"It doesn't look like it's going well," Jasper said.

I groaned. "I know Finn thought he was doing the right thing. Hell, if I thought peace was a possibility I'd be the first person to try to work with the grounders. But, to them we're the bad guys, just because we thought everyone on Earth was dead."

Jasper searched the trees and a look of panic washed over his face. "What?" Raven asked.

"Grounders, in the trees." I looked but if there was someone there, they blended in with the trees. "No, no, no, this isn't good." Jasper stepped from our cover. "They're going to shoot! Clarke, run!" He yelled. He opened fire on the grounders and grounders started firing arrows from the trees.

The woman on the bridge pulled a knife out and Bellamy shot her. She wasn't injured badly and retreated to her horse. We all ran up the slope and towards camp. Clarke, Finn, and Octavia fell in behind us and we didn't stop until we had reached our walls.

"I told you no guns!" Finn snapped at Clarke.

"Yeah, and I told you we couldn't trust the grounders. I was right," Clarke retaliated.

"They were there to kill you," Bellamy said.

"We don't know that. Jasper shot first, we have no way of knowing if they were planning to shoot those arrows," Finn said.

"You ruined everything," Octavia said to Jasper, before storming back to camp.

"Either way, the point is they brought them," I said. "They aren't trustworthy."

"And neither are we."

"Why didn't you tell me what you were doing?" Raven asked Finn.

"I tried, but you were busy making bullets for guns you shouldn't have brought!"

"This is just going in circles!" I snapped. "It's over. Whether or not it was the right thing is not the issue. The issue is what do we do about it now? They'll be coming for us. We can't be fighting each other, we have bigger battles ahead."

"She's right," Bellamy said.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm not a part of this save the day dream team." I turned back towards camp. "I'm going to check on Octavia."

I found Octavia in the same spot she was always in. "Go away," she mumbled.

"Not happening," I said, plopping down beside her.

"You're on their side," she accused. "You let them bring guns."

"This is you brother we're talking about. There's no way I could have stopped him. Clarke didn't even tell us Finn didn't want her to have them, though I suppose it was implied. I wasn't totally focused on the issue in that moment."

"We could have worked something out, I know we could have."

"Maybe. Maybe Clarke would have saved the day and by next week we all would have been making friendship bracelets with our new grounder buds. But here's the deal, it didn't happen. Blame Jasper or your brother or whoever, you can even blame me if you want, but you can't forget what side you're on. Other than your grounder-"

"Lincoln, his name is Lincoln."

"Other than Lincoln, would any other grounder stick their necks out for you? We may screw things up sometimes, but our side is still your side."

She was quiet for a minute. "He took an arrow for me."

"Is he ok?"

"I think so."

"Good. Octavia, I'm sorry if this changes things with Lincoln. I know you really care about him."

She nodded. "I get what you've been saying, but I think I just need time to process things and to be alone for awhile."

"And this time alone time extends to me too."

"Yeah."

"Alright, well, you know I'm around if you change your mind."

"I know."

I found Bellamy waiting for me at my tent. I motioned for him to come inside. "How's she holding up?"

"She's upset with all of us, she has a right to be. But, I think she's going to be alright."

"That's good." He made no move to leave; he just kept standing there.

"Is that all you wanted to talk to me about?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry for yelling at you before. You didn't deserve that."

"Maybe I did a little."

"No, you were right. Octavia isn't your sister; she's your friend. I should be the one watching out for her and making sure she's ok. I've been falling down on my job."

"In your defense, she's been pretty testy lately, makes it kinda hard to talk."

"I should have tried harder."

I nodded. "You can't just be protective when it suits you."

"I'm making it harder and harder for myself to earn her forgiveness."

"I believe in you," I assured him.

"Oh, and uh, about earlier…" He trailed off.

I stared at him blankly. "Earlier?"

"You know, in my tent?" I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, you're right. There is plenty of time to talk about that later."

"Are you sure you didn't get into the moonshine after all?" He looked at me funny but I kept up the act.

"Well, get some sleep. Who knows when the grounders will make they're move, we need to be ready."

"Yeah, you too." He nodded and started to leave. I took a step towards him. "Bell?"

He turned around. "Yeah?"

I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Goodnight."


End file.
